coming into the earth. >> when that solar energy strikes, you get the northern lights, the famous swirl of particles in the upper atmosphere. this can disturb the gps system on a serious scale. scientists are finding out the true extent of that effect. they have measured how severe conditions can lead to a huge loss and the accuracy -- a huge loss in accuracy. how much disruption could you get? >> if you have a very large solar storm, you can get up to 10s of meters -- 10's of meters. >> 10's of meters between where you are and where you think you are. for most of us, it might not matter that much. for some, pinpoint navigation could be a matter of life and death. the more we have come to rely on satnav, in fact, anything involving satellite technology, the more critically important research like this has become. ideally, they will work out a way of forecasting the most damaging effects. there is still a lot of mystery about the sun, how it disturbs the atmosphere, and what that means for us, but this is where we will start to get some answers. >> ok. i always knew that maps were the be